Wildlife Over Waste

Youngkin proposes delay to foam ban, again

Governor Glenn Youngkin released his proposed budget this week and once again, it includes language to delay Virginia's popular, bipartisan ban on polystyrene foam cups and take out containers.

Beyond plastic

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Poetra.RH | Shutterstock.com

Governor Glenn Youngkin released his proposed budget this week and once again, it includes language to delay Virginia’s popular, bipartisan ban on polystyrene foam cups and take out containers. The 2025 General Assembly session will kick off in January and legislators will have to once again defend this law and remove the delay language.

Virginia’s historic action to reduce plastic pollution

Virginia’s phase out of polystyrene foam cups and take out containers is set to begin next year. Large chains will no longer be allowed to use single use foam products starting July 1st, 2025. Smaller establishments have an extra year to comply.

This bipartisan ban was a hugely popular. Environment Virginia generated over 50,000 petitions of support from Virginians across the Commonwealth. If there was one thing that seemed to bring people together, it was their desire to never see single use foam cups and takeout containers in their waterways, farms, gutters, recycling bins, anywhere and everywhere ever again.

Using the budget to delay action

Despite the broad support, the Youngkin administration, industry and a couple legislators have repeatedly worked to use the budget making process to rollback this law. By using the budget, they were able to side step the committees and floor votes that were all supportive of the ban.

In 2022, they successfully added budget language to significantly delay the ban. Under Youngkin’s delay, foam would not be phased out until 2030.

While the phase out did not start on schedule (originally 2023 for large chains), legislators did move forward the dates to start in 2025 for large chains and 2026 for small businesses. Governor Youngkin attempted to block this but legislators held strong.

In Youngkin’s newly proposed budget, he is once again working to push back the phase out until next decade. It is more important than ever to ensure this law goes into effect. Legislators have repeatedly shown broad support for this law and must stand strong behind it.

Why ban single use polystyrene foam?

  1. It is overabundant and lightweight which are major contributors for why it so easily ends up in the environment and becomes litter.
  2. It never biodegrades, instead it breaks down piece by piece eventually into microplastics. What doesn’t end up as litter cannot be recycled effectively and will either end up in a landfill (where it can easily blow away into our environment or where it will slowly break down into microplastics and seep into our waterways) or incinerated which causes a host of other pollution problems.
  3. Eliminating single use foam has shown to decrease litter in the environment and have a positive effect on wildlife.

Contact your legislator today to tell them: no more delays, wildlife over waste today! 

 

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